Racing: Juvenile's victory brings training partnership a step closer

Royal Pericles cruises clear for Gary Grylls. Picture / Greg Bowker

Bruce Wallace knows he's lucky to have Allan Peard.

And Allan Peard knows he's lucky to have Bruce Wallace.

It won't be too long before the Takanini trainer takes his former apprentice jockey into a training partnership.

Peard can probably shorten the timeframe if he keeps producing impressive winners like yesterday's New Zealand Herald 2YO victor Royal Pericles.

These days Wallace devotes a lot of his time to his construction company and relies heavily on the horsemanship of 27-year-old Peard.

"Allan is stable manager and unofficially he's a training partner," said Wallace.

"The main thing I appreciate is what he does for the stable and I've talked to him about the partnership possibility."

Wallace was looking forward to making the phone call last night to Royal Pericles' Hong Kong owners.

He does a lot of development of young horses, many of whom he loses to Singapore and Hong Kong before they race here.

"It's nice winning races like this on big days with these Asian-owned horses because you can tell the owners, 'Look, you can win decent money leaving them here, you don't have to keep dragging them away'."

Wallace cannot remember a season when he's had more talented juveniles.

"We've got some very good ones that haven't raced yet."

One is an O'Reilly half-brother to Big Easy, one of Laurie Laxon's best gallopers in Singapore and a horse Wallace developed before passing him on Laxon's stable.

"The O'Reilly has won his two trials coming from the back of the field and is very smart.

"He'll have one more trial then a decision will be made whether he races here or heads to Singapore."

Wallace said he would back Royal Pericles up in the $50,000 Eclipse Stakes on Sunday and then look at the $500,000 New Zealand Bloodstock Classique at Te Rapa in February.

Peard said he was keen to take the Stravinsky colt to Trentham before Te Rapa.

Gary Grylls was greatly impressed by Royal Pericles, who won easily despite running out sharply in the run to the line, probably shying at tents put up in the in-field.

"He had plenty left," said Grylls. "If something had come at him he'd have produced it."

* Yesterday's $50,000 Sir Patrick Hogan Newmarket Handicap threw up the probable winner of the $200,000 Railway - Baldessarini.

Baldessarini was 500km from Ellerslie yesterday, but made his Railway presence felt when Royal Entertainer impressively won the Newmarket.

Two weeks ago, Baldessarini made Royal Entertainer look ordinary, leaving him nearly three lengths in his wake and guaranteeing himself Railway favouritism.

Yesterday, Royal Entertainer equally told punters that those who finished behind him would need a major step up the ladder to turn that result in the country's biggest sprint at Ellerslie next Sunday.

Two Railway prospects, Darcybee and Amazing One, tried hard to get past Royal Entertainer, but the winner refused to yield.

Barrier draws are everything in Railways and favouritism could well adjust when the draws come out.

Royal Entertainer has an interesting ownership - one of the three shareholders is trainer Nigel Tiley, who is not operating his trade at the moment and the sprinter was placed with John Sargent at Matamata.

Tiley races the horse with a mate, international horse transport operator David Cole, and Cole's Melbourne-based partner Quinton Wallace.

Jim Gibbs was happy after Darcybee finished second, Vinaka fourth and Vaalu fifth.

"I was really thrilled with Vinaka, who will improve again on that effort."